ALDI Finalizes 185-Acre Buy to Build $40M Hub

[IMGCAP(1)]DENTON, TX-German discount grocer, ALDI Inc., has just closed on a 185-acre tract beside Denton Municipal Airport, where it plans to build a $40-million distribution center to support Texas and Oklahoma. Construction could start in 30 days on the 500,000-sf specialty box.

The site search started nearly one year ago, with word making it to the street in April that land in Denton was under contract. In clearing the last cliff-hanging hurdle for the off-market deal to close, ALDI paid $3.96 million to Dallas-based Stratford Group for the deed to 1517 Centre Place Dr., which is situated close to the Interstate 35 North and I-35W junction.

“Once we have the permits, we’ll start,” says Tom Smolik, principal of Dallas-based TIG Real Estate Services Inc. He estimates it will be 12 to 18 months before ALDI’s first distribution center in the Southwest is completed. The delivery is being timed to coincide with major improvements to Airport Road, a feeder for the airport and an emerging industrial park, thanks to ALDI’s final nod to the deal.